04.29.07
Crazy Weather Impact
It has only been a short time since I’ve had a yard suitable for growing a garden, so this is all sort of new to me.
A short time ago, we had a sudden cold snap. It was a minor storm coming through Southern California, but it still brought winds cold enough to kill nearly all of our tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers. It was followed by a foretaste of our desert heat, which has not helped the surviving plants at all.
Of course, the year’s crop of rabbits is rather large–they are getting past two fences to get into the garden–as well as getting into fenced areas in most of the yards in the neighborhood. The dogs are getting their exercise, that’s for sure.
These are things that we accept, because they come with living in the area. If we choose not to accept them, we will become exceedingly frustrated. Man may not like to admit it, but he cannot yet control nature. Any attempts to do so on more than a very limited scale are doomed to fail.
If your business is in an industry that is affected by weather changes, you should be prepared for anything. Even NOAA Weather Service forecasters are often wrong on the size and timing of events. This is even more pronounced in this time of climactic change. The fact is, we don’t know what the temperature, precipitation, or winds will be like next year. Our predictions fail often enough that it affects those who depend upon them.
For example, those of us who work for the federal disaster-relief agency read the forecasts last year for extra hurricane activity. Now, none of us wants these things to happen or for people to be harmed by these events. But your bank account and creditors, not to mention those rug rats that see you as a living wallet, all depend upon you being deployed on a disaster-relief effort for a certain proportion of the year. When nothing happened in the second half of 2006, it affected our pocketbooks.
Have you begun laying aside some funds to tide you over during a prolonged slump? Do you have the classic of camping food and sealed water, plus clothing, blankets, medical supplies, sleeping bags, and a tent for yourself, your family members, and your animals? Do you have an alternate source of income available for times when your primary trade is in hiatus? We all hear this advice and think one of these days, I’ll get prepared, but it will never happen until and unless you actually make the effort to do something about your own disaster-preparedness and financial security.
